Electric metal-stock heater



Sept. 4, 1928 1,682,968

E. s. JEFFERIES ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Filed Dec. 6, 1926 '7 Sheets-Sheet l Jizwn/m" ,F/zeJfJ Fff ri 7 Sept. 4, 1928 1,682,968

E. s. JEFFERIES I ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Filed Dec. 6, 1926 'T Sheets-Sheet 2 or)? ey Sept. 4, 1928.

E. S. JEFFERIES ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Fil ed Dec. 6, 1926 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 llll IIILHU IJIJ PI lll HHH TG Sept. 4, 1928. 1,682,968

E. S. JEFFERIES ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Filed Dec. e, 1926 "r Sheets-Sheet 4 fines? J. .Tefferz'es f .7 Cam.

E. S JEFFERIES ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Sept. 4, 1928.

Filed: Dec. 6, '1925 'r Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 4, 1928. 1,682,968

E. s. JEFFERIES ELECTRIC METAL STOCK HEATER Filed Dec. 1926 7 Sheets Sheet '7 Patented Sept. 4, 1928 1 UNITED STATES PATENT? or me.- f

ERNEST s. \Q'IEFFERIES, or HAMILTON, ONTARIO, cans-DA.

ELECTRIC METALSTOCK H ATER;

Application filed Dece ber 6,1926. seriarno. 153,000. 1

The inventionrelates to electricheaters adapted toautomatically heat and deliver pieces of metal stockvfor the performance of some operation thereon, such as heading or drop forging. In .mv copending application, Serial No. 682,719, filed December 26,1923, there is disclosed such a heater,

of a rotarytype, and the present invention contemplatesan improved machine adapted to operate ona vertical axis instead of a horizontal axis, asin the former machine.

The general object of the presentinven tion is to so improve a h'eaterfof this type as to greatly increase its reliability of performance; a particular object of the inven' tion being to. provide anelectrically balanced transformer structure capable of handling very heavy currents, so that the stock may-be heated and delivered a rapid rate without overheating the windings. Further objects of the invention comprise the. cooling of the oil in the transformer tank by a novel arrangement of water piping, and the .coolingof the several electric i contacts by directpontact of'tlie cooling water therewith. p d Other objects and advantagesof the inven- 'tion will hereinafterappear, reference"bc-' -ing had to the accompanying drawings whi h show an illustrative embodiment of my invention, and in which a a v Fig. 1 is a front elevation with one-half the machine being shown insection.

Fig. 2 is an elevation ofthe machine from the right hand-sideof Fig. 1."

Fig. Sis a plan view." Fig.4 is a horizontal sectional view taken partly along the line H of-Fig. 1, show 1n the construction" of 'the transformer parts, thepiping being omitted} Fig. 5 is adeveloped plan View on an enlarged'scalepshowing the action of the stock} transferring devices.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of Fig. '5. i 1

Fig. 7 is a wiring'diagram, illustrating the transformer connections.

on the line v V of large cable to oarryheavy current, is]

the machine, showin' a modified form of feeding and cleaning device;

Fig; 11 is a front elevation'of the ap-' .paratus of Fig. 10." r

Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the feeding cage tak n t i e 1%12' of Fig; 11.

Like reference Referring to Figs. 1, Qand 3,the machine is mounted on a base 1, which, together with the uprightsQ and a top-piece 3, constitutes a frame forthemachine. A vertical holcharacters refer, to like parts in the different figures.

low shaft 4, which carries the rotating elements of the machine, is journalled in the base 1 at 5 and in the top-piece 3 at 6. The shaft {l is driven from any suitable source of power, as an electric motor'7,'by means of belting 8, a worm 9, and a worm wheel.

10 fast on the shaft 4. Worm wheel 10 rests on the. lower bearing 5, which' isa thrust bearing. [Surrounding the shaft 4 and resting'on-the gear wheel 10 is a sleeve 11, which serves'as a support for a rotatable spider 12, through, which the "shaft ,4 extends. "Concentric vcylinders '13 and 14 are secured to a flat annular plate 15 on'the spider'12, thus forming an annular "tank 16 surrounding the shaft 4. f

Whenithe machines in use, the tank16 is filled-With oil, and the transformer parts,

in the tank 16,?arethen' immersed in oil. The transformer comprises an annular magnetic 18', see Fig. 4:; Around the core 17;is the '85 core 17 supported by a delta sh'apedyoke 7 primary winding 19, and outsidethat isthe secondary winding 20, the windings being i distributed symmetrically with" respect to the yoke 18. The-yoke 18, with the core 17 i' *and'windin'gs' 19 and 20, are supported above the bottom plate15 of the tank by a ring Each turn ofthe secondary winding :90

which comprises a comparatively few turns connected at one side of the core 17mm annular electrode 22, which is continuous, and at the other side to an outer electr dfl,

jlutf which comprises'spaced sectors 23, see' lower half'of Fig. 4. Referring now-to Fig. 1,, the electrodes 22 and 23 are shown in 'Vefr-l tical section as being held together by bolts suflicient. just below that point a pipe connection, not

surrounds the shaft 4 and rests on a shoul- This casting der formed on said shaft. 28 covers the inner portion of. the tank 16,

leaving, 'however,a. passage 28 for cables, as will be hereinafter described. Another casting 29 covers the outer portion ofthe tank, having an. overhanging edge 29, andthe castings 28 and29 are secured together with the electrodes 22 and 23 between them, by the bolts 24. This whole electrode strucf ture forms a cap to therotating part of the machine, said cap being generally/inclined l ke a cone. Thecastmg 28 has ar1dge28 running completely around the machine,; ,.Which, together with posts 30 on casting 29,

act, as hearing supports for a plurality of clamping mechanisms, to be hereinafter described. I

The cooling water is supplied to the machine through a. gland 31, which delivers it tolthe passage 4v inside the lower half of 'shaft 4,a nd in most locations no pump will be necessary, the local water pressure being Passage 4 is blocked at 32, and

shown, istapped into shaft 4. From there the water desirably branches to cooling coils 34, which lead annularly around the tank-16,

and also to aheader 35. The header 35. has a plurality of. pipes'36 leading therefrom,

which carry the water to all the outer elec trodes 23 where it goes through passages 37 to the contacts 27. The water thenleaves the electrodes 23by parallehpassages 37*, and back, by means of piping, 38, to the inner electrode 22, see Figs. 1, 4 and 8. Similarly, in the electrode 22, the water goes to the inside contacts 26 through a plurality of pasmges 3.9, and outagain by aplurality of parallel passages 39 'to piping 40 and a 'header 41., The header 41 takes the .col-

- lected waterto the upper portion 4 of shaft passage by means of piping 42.

34 isledtothe upper shaft passage 4 by I'piping, not shown. In some heaters the piping may be omitted, the piping 36 and 38 being sufiicient to cool the oil in the tank 16.

' co -An outlet gland 43 on top of the shaft 4 takes the discharged water away from the machine. i

It'wil-l be noted that the piping 36frc-1z1 the distributing header 35 and also'the pip.

, ing 38, both lead electrically from one electrode'to the other and pass around the core Similarly, the water that circulates through the piping 17, so they act as an auxiliary secondary and increase the elficiency of the machine. In this connection, it is further noted that the inner electrode-is not insulated from the machine as a whole, while the outer electrode segments are. Electric current is fed to the transformer primary .19 by means of collector rings 44.

46, inside of insulating tubes 47, to the spider 12. Of course, brushes of any usual sort, not shown, connect with the .rings44. From the rings 44 the current is led by heavy cables 48 between the shaft 4 and the inner cylinder 14 to the tank 16, wherethey connect to the primary 19. i 6

Referring to Figs. 1 and 7 on the upper part of the shaft 4 is mounted a tap changing switch for the purpose of changing the voltage induced across the electrodes 22 23. It comprises a number of rows Of SWItCh jaws .49 arranged annularly on insulated disks 49, the number of the rows being equal to the number of electric phases used, in this case three. Each switch jaw 49 is connected to a tap on the primary l9 by'a cable 50 which passes, thereto through the sleeve portion 28* of the irregular casting 28. Each switch jaw connects to a'tap on the transformer primaryl9, and jaws, vertically These rings are separated by insulating plates 45, and the struc ture'as a whole is secured by means of bolts in line, connect to similar taps on each phase,

see Fig. 7. g p g V a A three phase plug switch is supplied which can be inserted in any vertical row of jaws and in so doing connect as shown at 51, a pair of duplicate taps ofeach phase onthe primary 19 together simultaneously. 'By' moving the plug switch radially to the next vertical row of switch jaws, it is possible to either loweror raise the induced voltage by adding or subtracting turns from. the 'pr-i-- mary 19. p

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, a main feed hopper .52 is located at the side of the machine. It-has inclined bottom plates with a chute 53 leading from the'low point of the 7 hopper. An agitator-'54, I which oscillates about. apivot 5.5, driven by a connecting rod 56 .and eccentric 57 on a shaft58, pokes the rod stock into the chute 5.3 and prevents two or more pieces from arching over. theenrance thereto. The walls of'the chute 53 are not continuous, but havevertical gaps to allow of cleaning of the stockzby grinding 'wheels 59 and 60. A As shownin Fig. 2, the

wheels 59 and 60 are mounted on a shaft 61,

which is-held by suitable'bearings, and derives its rotation from the motor 7 by means" of a belt 62 and a pulley 63 on said shaft.

Shaft 61 is threaded with both right and left threads, and the hubs of the, grinding wheels 59 and 60 are threaded, and adjustablyheld in place by lock nuts 64 and 65,

which are threaded oppositely to said hubs.

. The shaft 58 is threadet 1 in similar. fashion, and besides the eccentric 57, a pair' of pressure wheels-.66 and 67 are mounted on .it -and adjustably securedby lock nuts.

Shaft58 is rotatably mounted onrockers 68 which can be adjusted, relative to.,-theistock by means of rods69. .lressure springs '70, held by nuts 71 on said rods cause the wheels 66 and 6'7 to press against the stock, thus forcing the latter against the grinders 59 locked on shaft .58. A gear 73 also on said shaft72 meshes with a gear 75 fixed to :a shaft/T6 that is rotated in a manner to be described. Thus the pressure wheels 66 and 67 are rotated counterclockwise (Fig. l), but at a much slower ratethan the grinders 59 and 60, which, it should be noted, also revolve c0linterclockwise. Seel igp9 for the above gearing. T

Below the chute 53 is a cone 77. Grooves 78 formed in said-cone remove the-stock from the chute, piece by piece, and deposit it on a ledge 79, Where it rolls by gravity into one ofwa series of buckets '80. The. buckets 80 are mounted on endless chains that pass over.

sprockets 81, 81 mounted ona shaft 82 held by bearings 82 at'the top of the machine,

than 1 one point. 1

over idler rolls'83 rotatably supported by brackets 84 atthesideiof the machine, and down to sprockets on shaft 76. As shown 0 in Fig, 2, the shaft 82 is j driven by a bevel gear 85 fast. on it which meshes with a bevel gear 86 fast on the shaft 4. (Thus the" buckets and'chains' are driven,andserve to' drive shaft 76. The gear 73 meshes with a gear 87 attached to the .cone 7 7 and thus the latter is driven positively in timed relation to the buckets 80, see Figs. 1- and'BQ The cone 77 and bucketsrotate in counter-clockwise direction, Fig. 1. i '1' The purpose ofmaking the delivery 'drum 7 7 in the form of a cone is to keep the stock in the chute 5.3 outiof parallel with the" piece .of stock is forced .to an inclined position in the-chute 88 by 'a ledge 89 in said chute.

This is to force the-stock to assume a position substantially parallel to an-"element of the conical cover'parts 28 and 29 before it is picked up" by the clamping mechanism. The bottom piece of stock'in thechuteSS is held bya take oif ledge 90 and a plurality of fingers 91 that arepivot ally mounted on a shaft 92. and forced against the stock by springs 93. i

Referring againio Fig.;1, shafts 94 are;

See Figsf 1' iiotatably held in insulated journals by the ridge portion 28 and the posts 30.. As best showni'n Figs. 5, 6 and 8, these shafts hold the clamping means, which consists of pairs of equal pressure clamps 95 and 96 mounted on the shafts9at, with'members 97 between them. The latter are fast on the .shafts9et, while the clamps 95 and 96,.although pinned thereto, arecapable Of'llllllt-Qd motion rela-, tive to shafts 94E. .Pins 98 pass through the clamps 95 and .96 andibetween forked portion 99 on the. members 97. portions 99 do not tightly hold the pins, and

consequently since the members 97 actuate theiclamps, slight. play is allowed, which The forked i.

insures equal pressure beingrexerted by the.

clamps on the stock.

.ftressure is supplied to the clamps from helical; springs 100 wound on the clamp shafts The pressure can be adjusted by means of toothed clutches 1 01, 102, the parts lOlbeing fixed to the. shafts 94; and the parts 102 being free on the.shafts,but fixed to the f helical springs 100. Triggers1'08 fastened to theshafts 9d are actuated-by a stationary cam 10% and thus openthe clamps to dis-j charge the heated stock and receive a new piece at each rotationo'f the main shaft 4. Hammers 105 pivoted on shaft 92 rapeach piece of new stock in position. mers have weighted portions 106.

The sequence of operation and the exact manner in whichthe as.follows:Y

The stock,fwhichmay beplac'edin the hopper 52 in large quantities, having entered the chute 53-, is polishedat those points where it will short-circuitthe contacts 26' and 27. It has been notedthat the space between the pressurewheels 66 and 67 and the grinding wheels 59 and 60 is adjustableby means .of'the rockers 68. This permits the machine'to heat various diameters. of siocl z.

As the cone 77 revolves, the gro0ve'78 therein removes the pieces of stock one by Said hamstock-is transferred is r one from the chute 53- and transfers them 7 to the buckets :80, which, as already described, move in' exact timed relation to said cone. The -buckets 80 transfer the stock to the overhead chute 88, where itis forced toassume a position substantially parallel to the shafts 94, as already described. Since the chain of buckets is driven from the main shaft um stock'can be delivered to the chute 88 at the same" rate at which it is taken therefrom, and thusthe chute 88 willnever either be clogged. with stock, or run short thereof, "so long kept supplied.

Referring now ted 6, it willbe seen tliat as the clamps 95, 96 approach the take off ledge 90, the triggers 103 engage the stationary cam 10st andso, by partial rotation iof the particular shaft in; question, 9 1, the clamps 95, 96 are opened up; -The bot as the main hopper 52 is position. As the cage rotates, thestockis resiliently held in place by the chain 144,

and the grinding wheels 133 and 134 whichv rotate rapidly, clean the stock atthose places where the heater. I

Then the stock has travelledahalf revolution witht-he cage 110, it reaches a chute 88% and is discharged into it. It will be noted that the cage 110. isdriven in timed relation to the shaft 1, and: hence a piece of stock is delivered into the chute 88?, for each one taken therefrom by the automatic clamps previously described. The gears 111,

112, 114 and 117 are designed to give this result. In this manner, the chute 88 will always contain some-stock, and will never overflow. In starting the machine, the chute 88 or 88 may. desirably be given a surplus of a few pieces. r

I claim:

.1. In a rotary metalstock heater, a tank mounted to rotate on an axis, annular electrodes supported by said tank, a magnetic core in said tank, and primary and secondary circuits surrounding said core, said sec ondar bein electricall connected to said electrodes.

2. In a rotary metal stock heater, an annular rotatable tank, annular electrodes sup ported by said tank, a magnetic core in said tank, and primary and secondary circuits surrounding said core, said secondary being electrically connected to said electrodes.

3. In a rotary metal stock heater, a tank mounted to rot-ateon an axis, annular electrodes supported by said tank, a magnetic core in said tank, a primary circuit surrounding said core, and a secondarycomposed in part of cooling pipes, also surround ing said core, said secondary being electricall I connected to said electrodes.

4. In a rotary metal stock heater, a tank mounted to rotate on an axis, annular electrodes supported by said tanlncontact members connected to said electrodes, and cool-' ing means for said electrodes and contacts, comprising pipes leading through said tank,

' whereby the liquid in said'tank is also kept cool.

5. In a rotary metal stock heater. a tank mounted to rotate on an axis, annular elec-' trodes supported by said tank, a magnetic core in said tank, primary and secondary circuits surrounding said core, said secondary being electrically connected to said electrodes, and cooling pipes to conduct water extending into said tank and leading to said electrodes, whereby to cool the liquid in said tank and directly cool said electrodes.

6. 'In a rotary metal stock heater, a tank mounted to rotate on an axis, a generally conical cap structure for said tank providing electrodes, transformer means in said tank to create a heating current when said. else:

contacts will. be made in thetrodes arewshort circuited, conveyingmeans to convey pieces otrod stockabove said cap,

and individual ,clamping -means spaced about said Jgencrally conical cap structure adapted to remove stock from said conveying means, whereby stock. is automatically transt'erred from. said-conveying means to said capstructureto short c1rcu1t said electrodes asjsaid tank rotates. 1 ,1; c '7. In a rotary metal stock-heater, an-[ans nular tank mounted to rotate on anaxis, an

electrode structure mounted on said tank, ,p-rovidmgfga plurality orcipairso'l' contacts,

transformer means in said tank to convey heating current to said electrode'structure,

and piping in said tank conveying coolant both to said contacts, the electrode structure,

and to the liquid in said tank, whereby to cool said electrode structure, contacts, and. the transtor'mer means.

' trode structure supported by said tank and providing aplurality of pairs of contacts,

piping in said tank for circulating cooling liquid therethrough, whereby to keep thev coolant liquid Which is free insaid tank cool, and passages in saidhollow tube connected to said pipingJ i I 10. In a machine of the class described, a hopper, a rotary heater providing a plurality of angularly spaced electric heating units, conveying means for delivering pieces of stock to said heating means in timed sequence, and automaticgrinding means associated with said conveying means to grind each piece of stock prior to its delivery to the heating means. i

11. In a machine of the class described, a hopper, a rotatable electrode structure providing a plurality of pairs of, contacts, conveying'means for conveying pieces of stock in timed sequence from said hopper to a posi tion above said rotatable electrode structure, grinding means adapted to successively grind each piece of stock, means controlled by rota-' tional movement of said electrode structure for transferring pieces of stock from said conveying means to positlonsbetween pairs of contacts, and further means for removing pieces of stock from said contacts after be inghcated a predetermined amount.

12. In ttli'litcllinfiftlle class c1""ribed, means tor successively rinding and fading said" stock;

ment providing a plurality ofpairs of contacts and transferring means automatically operable to transfer said stock from said feeding meansto said rotatable element.

13. In a machine of the class described, a hopper, a rotatable cage providing spaced gaps. for the reception of pieces of stock, means to hold the stock in said gaps',-and grinding wheels inside said cage to clean 14. In a machinejof the class described a hopper, a rotatable cage providing spaced gaps .for' the reception of, pieces of stock, means to holdtliestock in said gaps, and grinding Wheels mounted inside said cage and concentric With it, to clean said stock.

' l5. Ina machine of the class described, a hopper, a rotatable cage providing spaced gaps for the'reception of pieces of stock, an adjustable end plate to vary .the length of said gaps, a chain to hold the stock in said gaps, and grinding Wheels mounted inside s-aidcageand concentric with it, to clean said stock. I 1 i A -ERNEST S. JEFFERIES. 

